Development of a global network of induced pluripotent stem cell haplobanks

In an Editorial exclusively free for members, Ian Wilmut et al. from University of Edinburgh (UK) discuss the need for a global network of haplobanks to support the development and provision of cell therapies.

1 Comments

The authors' proposal of a global network of iPSC haplobanks throws the proverbial baby out with the bath water; and to quote a legal colleague regarding contracts, has a giant non-barking dog in it.

That dog is the known genetic and epigenetic mutations that are part and parcel of iPSC derivation and that are inherited by differentiated cell derivatives of iPSCs. While the proposal has many dogs barking about the challenges of immune rejection biology and achieving significant coverage of the great diversity of haplotypes among different national and ethnic populations, the well known mutation dog is completely silent.

Certainly, the cell therapy baby is dashed out on its head, if nations spend millions, and perhaps billions, on getting rid of the bath water of immune rejection only to end up with banks of cells that are functionally deficient due to their mutations, including inducing tumors.

I submit that time and money would be better spent on developing a global network of cell banks with biomanufactured haplotyped, renewable, normal adult tissue stem cells - not unlike current bone marrow and umbilical cord blood banks, except with self-renewable stores of tissue stem cells.

Check out the potential of Asymmetrex's SACK technologies for the second approach: